Sunday is my birthday. I turn 55 years old. That is not a typo. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. In improv years, that makes me 104. Even I am amazed I’ve been around that long, teaching and performing improv. My life is not what I imagined it would be when I took my […]

Have you ever gotten off stage after a so-called bad show and immediately started blaming your teammates in your head for what went wrong? Even if you don’t tell them you’re blaming them, when you start to focus on other people as the problem, you run the risk of alienating them. Not a good move […]

I recently got a call from an old improv friend. He was calling me to tell me that he had gotten a new job. He was excited, almost giddy. He told me that he was now the head of human resources at a prominent TV station. And he said, “I can thank improv for this new […]

The other day I heard someone give a pretty inspiring talk, and at the end of it he said, "The most important thing we can do is be present when we are with other people.” I immediately thought of improv. Today, it’s called mindfulness, and it’s being taught in schools, practiced in offices and become […]

I have learned in improv that if something is fun in a scene, do more of it. I get that’s how it works in improv, but I’m not as good at applying that same concept in my own life. But the other day, I was driving home from the grocery store with my two-and-half year […]

Artists take risks. They evolve. They are excited about trying new things, even when they flat-out fail because they know they will have many more failures than successes. They really don't fail; they learn and grow. And they are always seeking inspiration. That is their rocket fuel. I think about my favorite musicians like Neil Young, […]

Two weeks ago I performed a Jimmy and Johnnie show -- an improv show that I have been doing for the last six years with John Hildreth at Second City. Each month we pick a special guest to improvise with us, and this time it was Joe Bill. The three of us always work well […]

Any improviser doing long form knows that editing can make or break a show. Good editing is balancing act between letting the improv scenes develop and not letting them go on too long to drag down the show. Whether you’re looking to improve your editing skills, or you are an improv teacher looking for ideas […]

We are told all the time in improv just have fun up there and everything will take care of itself. But what if you don't have fun in your real life? Well, then you are screwed. I am speaking from experience. I cannot give something away that I don't have. And when I try to fake […]

As a father of a two-and-a-half year old, I read a lot of children’s books. I mean, a lot. Not only does she have a bookshelf full of them, but she wants to read them over, and over and over. Some are good. Some are not so good. And some I’ve even memorized. So when […]